Chino State Park

A woman mountain biking in Chino Hills State Park had to be airlifted out of the rugged area Sunday after she fell and hit her head. Brea Fire Department paramedics reached the woman after 6 p.m. on the Carbon Canyon side of the park, which is north of Brea. She was treated at the scene and transported by helicopter to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange. Fire officials did not release the woman's name or condition.

It was a twist on the slogan "Your highway dollars at work." While cars swamped the Riverside Freeway, Caltrans on Tuesday turned its attention to a different kind of traffic -- the deer, bobcats and foxes that wander the state parkland on both sides of the highway. California Department of Transportation crews are tearing up the Coal Canyon Road offramp in Anaheim to replace it with a wildlife corridor that cuts under the freeway.

Location: At the convergence of Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, north and east of Yorba Linda. Description: Chino Hills State Park preserves about 10,000 acres of unspoiled rolling hills in the middle of one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. Activities: Trails and dirt roads in the park are popular with equestrians, hikers and mountain bicyclists (some trails are open to hikers only).

After flames came to within 20 yards of backyard fences Sunday night, winds pushed back a fire in east Yorba Linda, sending it into the wilds of Chino Hills State Park. By nightfall, the fire had charred 125 acres. Flames had died down, said Capt. Stephen Miller, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. He said that although the blaze was only 20% contained, firefighters were confident no more structures were threatened.

It's not the promise of adventure that brings the mounted assistance unit out to Chino Hills State Park, but a job where something of real service can also mean enjoying a long, lazy horseback ride in beautiful surroundings. Ray Brezina points out a redheaded woodpecker, lighting in the upper branches of a sycamore, to a visitor. Sue Wiley slides off her horse, Starlite, to grab a discarded can, crush it and store it in the back pocket of her jeans.

Chino Hills State Park--with more than 9,700 acres of rolling hills, wide grasslands and oak woodlands--will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily through Sept. 7, park officials announced. The state's largest urban-area park remains undeveloped, providing a nearby escape from the surrounding sprawl for hikers, campers, picnickers and horseback riders. Eight primitive campsites, picnic tables, hiking trails and an equestrian staging area are available in the park.

The state Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously Friday to approve a plan for the acquisition of about 3,000 acres of open space plus the development of facilities at Chino Hills State Park.

Chino Hills State Park, located in Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, preserves some much-needed "breathing room" in this fast-growing area. Nearly 3 million people live within sight of the Chino Hills and more than 9 million people live within a 40-mile radius of the park. The 10,000-acre park is the state's most expensive, with more than $47 million spent by the time it opened for full-time use in 1986. Right now, Chino Hills is a park-in-the-making.

July 7, 1994 | RICK VANDERKNYFF, Rick VanderKnyff is a member of The Times Orange County Edition staff. and

Orange County Wheelmen, the biggest bicycling club in the county, is primarily a road riders' group. A handful of mountain bikers, however, have also found a place there. That niche has a name in the monthly Wheelmen newsletter: Goat Hill Corner, which lists rides and other events. Although the road cyclists have at least a half-dozen group rides to choose from each week, the pickings are a bit slimmer for mountain bikers, who stage but two or three events a month.

After flames came to within 20 yards of backyard fences Sunday night, winds pushed back a fire in east Yorba Linda, sending it into the wilds of Chino Hills State Park. By nightfall, the fire had charred 125 acres. Flames had died down, said Capt. Stephen Miller, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. He said that although the blaze was only 20% contained, firefighters were confident no more structures were threatened.

Orange County supervisors on Tuesday agreed to spend $1 million to help preserve a portion of Coal Canyon that officials and activists alike have long regarded as the most environmentally valuable stretch of unprotected open space in Southern California. The canyon, near the border between Orange and Riverside counties, links Chino Hills State Park and the Cleveland National Forest.

A woman mountain biking in Chino Hills State Park had to be airlifted out of the rugged area Sunday after she fell and hit her head. Brea Fire Department paramedics reached the woman after 6 p.m. on the Carbon Canyon side of the park, which is north of Brea. She was treated at the scene and transported by helicopter to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange. Fire officials did not release the woman's name or condition.

July 7, 1994 | RICK VANDERKNYFF, Rick VanderKnyff is a member of The Times Orange County Edition staff. and

Orange County Wheelmen, the biggest bicycling club in the county, is primarily a road riders' group. A handful of mountain bikers, however, have also found a place there. That niche has a name in the monthly Wheelmen newsletter: Goat Hill Corner, which lists rides and other events. Although the road cyclists have at least a half-dozen group rides to choose from each week, the pickings are a bit slimmer for mountain bikers, who stage but two or three events a month.

Location: At the convergence of Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, north and east of Yorba Linda. Description: Chino Hills State Park preserves about 10,000 acres of unspoiled rolling hills in the middle of one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. Activities: Trails and dirt roads in the park are popular with equestrians, hikers and mountain bicyclists (some trails are open to hikers only).

Chino Hills State Park, located in Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, preserves some much-needed "breathing room" in this fast-growing area. Nearly 3 million people live within sight of the Chino Hills and more than 9 million people live within a 40-mile radius of the park. The 10,000-acre park is the state's most expensive, with more than $47 million spent by the time it opened for full-time use in 1986. Right now, Chino Hills is a park-in-the-making.

It's not the promise of adventure that brings the mounted assistance unit out to Chino Hills State Park, but a job where something of real service can also mean enjoying a long, lazy horseback ride in beautiful surroundings. Ray Brezina points out a redheaded woodpecker, lighting in the upper branches of a sycamore, to a visitor. Sue Wiley slides off her horse, Starlite, to grab a discarded can, crush it and store it in the back pocket of her jeans.

Orange County supervisors on Tuesday agreed to spend $1 million to help preserve a portion of Coal Canyon that officials and activists alike have long regarded as the most environmentally valuable stretch of unprotected open space in Southern California. The canyon, near the border between Orange and Riverside counties, links Chino Hills State Park and the Cleveland National Forest.

Southern California's newest state recreation area, Chino Hills State Park, will hold an open house Saturday featuring guided nature walks, trail rides and wagon rides through Aliso Canyon. The open house for the 9,735-acre reserve in the hills east of Brea and Yorba Linda will be hosted by the park's volunteer mounted assistance unit. The free event is intended to introduce visitors to the new park, which covers parts of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.